Rockies' Senzatela draws emotional Mother's Day start

DENVER -- Antonio Senzatela makes a Mother's Day start for the Colorado Rockies in what will be a particularly poignant outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Left-hander Julio Urias starts for the Dodgers in the finale of the four-game series.

Senzatela's mother, Nidya, died of cancer July 24. He puts her rosary beads in his uniform pocket whenever he starts and drew the Mother's Day assignment after both he and Kyle Freeland started in Tuesday's doubleheader.

"It'll be emotional, more exciting," the 22-year-old Senzatela said. "I just try to keep my preparation that day. I stay focused. Just that day, maybe, try and do the same job, good job. I know my mom is proud of me."

Senzatela (5-1, 2.86 ERA) has never faced the Dodgers. This will be the eighth career start for Senzatela, who has pitched at least six innings in his past six starts and at least seven innings in three outings. In four starts at Coors Field, Senzatela is 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA.

He made the Opening Day rotation after pitching at Double-A Hartford last season. He went 4-1 with a 1.82 ERA there in seven starts but didn't pitch after June 15. He was on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain from April 17 to May 23 and went on it again June 22 before he went home to Valencia, Venezuela, about a week before his mother died. She had stomach cancer that had spread.

"It was hard for me because she didn't look the same," Senzatela said. " She looked more skinny. You could see the pain in her eyes."

Senzatela stayed home for about two weeks after his mother's death and didn't pitch the rest of the season. But he parlayed a strong spring training into a spot in Colorado's Opening Day rotation, bypassing the Triple-A level.

The Rockies are 6-1 this year in games started by Senzatela, who has allowed 36 hits and 11 walks in 44 innings with 24 strikeouts and has limited opponents to a .228 average.

Opposing batters are hitting .164 against Urias (0-0, 1.06). To limit his innings, the Dodgers had Urias, 20, pitch 14 innings in three starts at Triple-A Oklahoma City before making his debut with the Dodgers this season April 27. In three starts with Los Angeles, Urias has allowed nine hits and 10 walks in 17 innings with 10 strikeouts.

"He's got a lot of poise, a lot of confidence," Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said. "But he does have four pitches. not all of them work all the time, but he's not a one-trick pony or it's (just about) fastball command."

Urias made his major league debut May 27, 2016, and gave up nine runs (eight earned) in 7 2/3 innings in his first two career starts, rough outings that in retrospect might have been beneficial.

"His first two starts were not really good," Honeycutt said. "But he wasn't fazed by it, and it also opened the door of like, you're not invincible. It kind of opened the door for a learning curve."

Urias finished his rookie season 5-2 with a 3.39 ERA in 18 games (15 starts). He went 0-0 with a 5.39 ERA in two games (one start) against the Rockies.

"He has an extra gear in his tank when he needs it," Honeycutt said, "so he can get it up there 94, 95 (mph). He's got a lot of confidence to be able to throw his changeup. I think that's really a separator for a young man at that level to be able to have that.

"His curveball and his slider, those are the two pitches that have to get more consistent for him to continue to rise to even a higher level. They're good at times, but there's still probably inconsistencies there."